Christmas with the Hornsbys

This afternoon we had our final (thank goodness) Christmas at Mel's.

It took him a while to get it out of the bag, but Jackson finally freed his quillow from Heather.
This oatmeal box was the only thing I could find to fit Bradley's present into. I think he was worried for a minute.
Here's Jackson with his boots Papa bought him. He asked Santa for these and before we went over to Mel's today he said, "Mom, did Santa forget my boots?"

Christmas at home

Okay, I know you're getting tired of our Christmases. Santa came to our house and brought way too much stuff as usual. Morgan woke us up around 6:30 so we got up and opened presents with her and played until about 7:30 when I made Lee go wake Jackson up. There are only a few pictures because we were videotaping.

Morgan playing with one of her new toys.

Jackson got a "dirt" bike.

Christmas with The Smiths

On Monday, we went to Lee's mom and step-dad's house for Christmas with them.

Morgan loves to stick her hands in the pool so they put up these gates the other day so she can't get to the pool. She's trying hard to figure out a way to get to that pool!
Here's Jackson sporting his Auburn camoflague hat and race cars shirt.
This is Lee after I surprised him with a tripod hunting stand.
Morgan posing in front of Lee's mom's tree.

Christmas with the Byrds

Sunday after sacrament we went down to Geneva to have Christmas with Lee's Dad, stepmom, and 1/2 brother Aaron. We had a good time.

Here are the kids attacking their uncle Aaron.
Here's Jackson with his remote control dump truck. He loves it and Morgan does too.
Lee took pictures of Morgan to keep her happy.
Here's all the grandkids in front of the tree.

Jackson's Christmas Party

Instead of giving his classmates candy, I bought them all reindeer ears. They loved them.

This is Jackson with his 2nd cousin, Eli.
Here they are clinging to Santa while he tries to leave.
This is Jackson "helping" his teacher open her present from him.

Anniversary

Wednesday was mine and Lee's 9th wedding anniversary. He brought me these flowers. Purple is my favorite color, so he did good. Jackson associates flowers with getting married and asked if he could marry me. When I told him no, he asked if he could marry sissy. Then he asked if he could marry Lauren. He's so funny. We're going to see Peter Pan at the Shakespeare Festival Saturday to celebrate.

Field Trip to Wal-Mart

Today I took 24 7th graders on a field trip to Wal-Mart. Our school has mentoring groups and I have really tried to get mine involved in doing service for others because I think that will teach them more than anything I can say. We did a canned food drive earlier this year and we decided to adopt an angel for Christmas. I'm sure other towns do this, but it's where you buy gifts for children who may not otherwise receive anything. We talked another mentoring group into going in with us. The students brought in a total of around $150. We adopted three boys and one girl. I talked our principal into allowing us to go during school time to purchase the items for the children. Everyone in Wal-Mart looked at us like we were crazy, but the kids were excited about helping someone else. When we got back to school, one student said "That makes me feel good inside." It was a rewarding moment. This is our group in front of Wal-Mart.

Party Time

Today was my last graduate class. Yay!!!!!! I am now officially done with school and plan to never go back. Now I just can't wait until my raise goes through. I feel like singing and dancing.

I'm also excited because we found out niece or nephew number 7 is on the way (compliments of Mel) in July.

If you're squeamish, look away...again!

Lee took Jackson hunting this afternoon. Jackson's not very good at sitting still, so I'm sure he didn't expect to see anything. If you know anything about hunting, you don't typically get more than one large buck in a year unless you pay big bucks for prime hunting land and all the gear. Well, Lee doesn't pay for his land at all (except in labor). I'm sure he was beside himself with the 2nd 8 point in the past few weeks walked out. Jackson had to go potty, but Lee told him just to hold on because they were about to get down. Well, that's when the deer walked out and Jackson wanted Lee to shoot it. When he did, Jackson peed on himself. It was kind of funny. Now we'll have plenty of deer meat to last the year.

The proud hunter.

Downtown Christmas

Today there was a Downtown Christmas. They had Santa, arts n crafts vendors, and man made snow. The snow was basically ice chips and people were balling it up and throwing it everywhere, so we didn't really do that. It was fun, but crowded.

Jackson sat with Santa after running away first and told him he wanted a truck.
Jackson is fascinated by firetrucks.

Here Morgan is patiently waiting with her fruit snacks while Jackson rides the bull.

I think the mechanical bull was the best attraction. Jackson couldn't wait to get on. It was funny watching all the kids.

Jackson was so excited.
Here he is in action.
Here he is on his way down.

The operator let all the kids get back on after falling off the first time, but once was enough for Jackson. He had fun though.

Fireman

Dad and Sandra got Jackson this Fireman outfit. He absolutely loves it.

Black Friday

I was one of the crazy people who ventured out on black Friday. I got up about 3:30 and was at Kohl's a little after four. There really weren't any killer deals, but it was several hours of shopping without Lee calling to see when I'm coming home, so I figured I better take advantage. Kohl's was super crowded. The lines were all the way around the store from every register, so I left without buying anything because I wanted to be at Wal-Mart before 5:00. I got the things I wanted at Wal-Mart and it actually wasn't too bad. People were throwing portable DVD players behind them trying to help people get one, but they kept throwing after everyone had one, so I had to duck a few times. I heard there was a fight by the digital cameras, but I don't know that for sure. There were plenty of cops there. After Wal-Mart, I had to stand in line in the cold to get in to Target who didn't open until 6:00. After Target, I hit Sam's, Circuit City and Toys R Us. I got home about 10:30 and took a nap. I am proud to say that I am done shopping for my kids except for one big thing for Jackson. I only have a few more gifts to buy out of everyone. Hoorah! Maybe Christmas won't be so stressful this year.

Pillow case

We decided to redecorate Jackson's room in a golf theme, but the only pre-made stuff I could find is really expensive, so I found this fabric and made pillow cases. I'm decorating one step at a time. Morgan really likes to have her picture made, so I snapped one of her too.

Disclaimer

Okay, so some family members were upset that they weren't included in my blog.:) Some letters were just easier to come up with words than others and I guess the reason Bradley popped up is because atleast once a day Jackson says, "Look mom "B" for Bradley." As a matter of fact he said it in Lowe's tonight and I'm not even sure where the B was.

So.. I'm also thankful for Heather, Christy, Cory, Lidia, Aiden, Tristan, Avery, Mel, Ish, Lauren and Micah. Also a shout out to Laurel, Ian, Isabella and Logan..we miss you too.

If you're squeamish, don't look!!!!

If you have a weak stomach or you don't like to see animal harmed, don't look at the pictures. Saturday was the opening day of gun season here. Lee went hunting this morning and got this buck. He was pretty excited since this is the biggest buck he's killed since before we met (like 12 years ago).

He took Jackson with him this afternoon, but Jackson didn't exactly sit still and stay quiet. Oh well, he's only 3.

Okay, so you know you're a redneck when you put pictures of a dead deer on your blog:) It's tasty though.

Thanksgiving Alphabet

Okay, so I stole this from Lindsey and Brooke, but I liked it.

A for me:)
B for books and Bradley
C for my crazy life and chocolate
D for my dad who helps me a lot and Dr. Pepper
E for the earth and eternal families
F for family and friends
G for Gordon B. Hinckley (Prophet)
H for home and Heavenly Father
I for icing
J for Jackson
K for Kim (Morgan's teacher)
L for Lee and love and laughter
M for Morgan and my mom
N for no more class!!! (in two weeks)
O for overtime pay
P for paid off bills and the priesthood and prayer
Q for quirky things Jackson does
R for really big family
S for sweets and sleep
T for temples and teaching
U for unforgettable memories
V for voting
W for work (even though I don't always want to go)
X for X-citing times
Y for youth
Z for zebra cakes (?)

Funny kid

Jackson remembers everything and says the funniest stuff. Sunday night he was jumping from the couch to the coffee table and he missed and busted his lip. He was crying and said we needed to call the ambulance. He also says we need to call 1-1-9 for emergencies.

About two months ago or more, I was cooking some pre-made hamburger patties. Jackson has this thing about eating frozen stuff, so he picked up one of the patties and took a bite out of it. I told him it would make him sick because it was raw. Now when I put him to bed he tells me he needs his breathing machine(humidifier) because he's sick. I tell him he's not sick and he says "uh uh, I ate raw hamburgers."

He cracks me up.

Major Yay!

Okay, no one else may care about this, but Morgan is eight and is still not potty trained. We've tried through the years, but she never seemed to get what she was supposed to do. At school they've been putting her on the potty at the same time every day. Today she went into the bathroom all by herself (not at a regularly scheduled time), pulled down her pants and sat on the potty. Her teachers actually had to look for her because they didn't know where she was. After eight+ years of diaper changing, could the end be in sight?

Special Citizens' Day at the Fair

Every year the fair has special citizens day. We get to go, ride the rides and eat for free. It is always fun. Today it was rather chilly with a high of 63 but it wasn't too bad. We had a good time.

Here we are getting ready to ride,
Morgan loved the roller coaster. It was small but rough.
Here Morgan is with her friend Madison. Sweet girls.

National Peanut Festival

It's that time of year again. We all went to the peanut festival and had a good time.

Here Jackson is getting ready to ride the pony, whose name was Chico.
This is a sweet picture of Lee and Morgan on the Ferris Wheel.
Here I am with the kids on the bear which Lee had spinning rather rapidly. The kids were really enthused about the picture as you can tell.
Here's Jackson thinking he's actually riding the motorcycle. He had a blast and was acting like he was on a sugar high all night from the excitement.

Halloween

This is Jackson's class at school. I had the day off so that I could go to an elementary school to get counseling hours, so I went to his party. They are quite a lively bunch. Mrs. Denise, his teacher, is on the left. She is so sweet and tenderhearted. The kids were playing pass the pumpkin (kind of like musical chairs) and she had to turn her back because she can't stand to see them get out. She's great.
This is Jackson's latest love. She's an older woman.
This is my silly son.

Well that night I took the kids trick or treating by myself because Lee was at work. About four houses in, Morgan threw down in the middle of the road and refused to get up. I wrestled with her for about five minutes (I know everyone thought I was crazy). I finally had to pick her up and carry her home. I put her in the stroller and we headed out again. Jackson did great going up to the doors by himself while I waited on the sidewalk. He had a good time yelling "trick or treat" all the way up to the people. I kept telling him to say thank you. At the houses he remembered to say it, he would walk away yelling, "Mom, I remebered to say thank you." It was really cute.

My sweet son

Having a special needs sibling makes things different. Jackson, who is the little brother, often takes on the role of the older sibling. Even though they fight like normal brothers and sisters, there are also moments when I can see the sweet jackson who takes care of his sister.

This is him tickling Morgan trying to make her smile for the picture. Morgan is certainly a challenge, but she has also brought many blessings and taught us many things. Okay my mushy warm fuzzy thoughts are over now.

Trunk or Treat

Tonight our ward had its first trunk or treat. It went pretty well especially considering that it was planned just three days ago. There was a good turn out and the kids had fun. Here are my pirate and ballerina.
Here Jackson is with his buddy/cousin Lauren and her cousin Haley. Mel and Bradley are in the background.
These are the three pirate buddies: Grady, Jackson and Sawyer.

Pirate Party

Jackson dressed up for Grady's pirate party. He's going to be a pirate for Halloween. I drew a mustache on him with a crayon thing and he flipped out. He screamed and cried until I wiped it off.
This is Grady's own pirate ship that his dad and grandad built for him for his birthday.
Here are the two pirates swinging and below they are sword fighting
Jackson had a blast at Grady's pirate party. Shout out to Aunt Heather for watching Morgan so that we could go.